Thursday, 5 May 2016

Helping Children Love to Learn With Reading Eggs

It’s that time of year my boys are in the midst of their
National reading and numeracy tests. I
feel for them heading of to school to concentrate for a long period of time,
especially for my youngest who is only seven and facing his first ever
exam. Apparently he was told if they
weren’t quiet their exam papers would be ripped up, he looked understandably
sad at the prospect. I do think we need
some way to assess how well children are doing but not if it’s going to
frighten them, they are still quite little and just be handled more
sensitively.

I want them to be eager and
excited to head off to school not worried about a week of tests, how they will
perform compared to their friends, dreading waiting for the results. In year 6 it might be worthwhile to stream
the secondary school intake and I guess it can identify gaps in learning prior
to that so teachers can take corrective measures and provide additional support. I just feel it’s a bit much when you’re only
seven!

Fortunately we do little bits to
help at home which can make the tests seem less overwhelming, I get that they
are tired when they come home from school so we do not do additional learning
every day, when I can coax them with something fun that captures their interest
I schedule it in. I really like Reading
Eggs for my youngest and they also have a Maths Programme for children up to
8. It is colourful, engaging and
manages to motivate my youngest to want to learn, it has really helped him on
his reading journey. All children learn
at their own pace and youngest was not as keen as his older brother to read
initially, he preferred being more technical, building and “inventing” things,
fortunately Reading Eggs suited him and encouraged him to want to read, the
activities are pitched in a way that interested him, he did not feel he was
getting a formal learning session so thrived.

If you want to give your children
a helping hand, Reading Eggs have a free 5 week trial signup available
now, just the thing to support them through their first National test or get your
children ready for starting school in September. Once they have mastered reading they can learn so many new
things, so it’s worth giving them a head start. We all want our children to do their best and by providing resources
like those available on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds you can help them become the
best student they can be. It's not just about shopping for a new pencil case and school bag there are better ways you can prepare your child to be ready for what they have ahead of them, using this free trial is worthwhile, it has not cost you anything but will really give your child a helping hand.

The trial is available through May and June; you get a
free trial to both Reading Eggs and Mathseeds. The content is developed by experienced primary school teachers so you can feel reassured that each and every activity is building on their knowledge and capability.